Just one lonely confirmation record in the Trinity, Friedheim books leads me to tell today’s tale. I must admit, though, that one of the facts that attracted me to this man’s story is the fact that he was the half-brother of a character I wrote about a few days ago, Eva Rehkopf. Her story was told in the post, Friedheim to Advance to Waco.

Johann Heinrich Rehkopf was born on August 17, 1837 in Northeim, Germany. Henry was the son of another Johann Heinrich Rehkopf and his mother was Henrietta Steinmetz. Henrietta died in Germany in 1848. Henry’s father married again. His second wife was Wilhelmina Braukmeir. Among that couple’s children was Eva Rehkopf, who was a main character in the post two days ago, who was born in America. The Rehkopf’s decided to come to the United States in 1850 and made the voyage aboard the ship, Ella. On the passenger list for this family, Henry is the 12 year-old.

Henry got confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim in 1853. Here we find him in the list of confirmands at that church in 1853. His half-sister, Eva, the baby in the family, would be born a few years later and baptized at this church.

I showed this census entry for Eva Rehkopf (called Lotta) in that previous post, but Henry is not included in that entry, but he would have been about 23 years old at the time.

I was unable to locate Henry in that year’s census, but it was also the year that he got married. So, let’s take a look at the woman who would become Henry’s wife. Her name was Catharine Reutzel, whose date of birth is debatable. Our German Family Tree says she was born on March 25, 1843, a date which comes from her Findagrave.com site. However, her information on Family Search says she was born on March 26, 1844. She was the daughter of Henry and Catharina (Neun) Reutzel. Apparently, Catharine’s father died when she was quite young. Then, her mother married Christian Nagel in 1850. Family Search says this 1860 census entry includes Catharine, who is called Catharine Nagel, and since that document was placed on Family Search by Timm Yamnitz, I figure it is very reliable. Catharine’s stepfather was a brickmaker in St. Louis, and Catharine was 16 years old.

Henry Rehkopf married Catharine Reutzel on December 16, 1860. That means today would be this couple’s 165th wedding anniversary, and this is the event that led me to this couple’s story. These two were married in Cape Girardeau County by a justice of the peace, Edward Engelmann. I will display 2 different civil records for this wedding. I believe that Edward Engelmann was himself married at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim.

Two of the early children born to this pair were baptized at Trinity Lutheran Church in Friedheim. For some unknown reason, their second child, George, does not have a baptism record in that congregation’s books. During these years, Henry spent some time serving in the Union Army during the Civil War. Here are 2 documents giving evidence of his military service. We see that Henry gave his name as Rehkop (without the “f” at the end). Since we later find the spelling of Rehkop on a gravestone, I will now begin using that spelling.

After the war, the Rehkop’s moved to Ironton, Missouri. In the 1870 census, the Rehkop’s had 4 children and Henry was working for an iron company.

Family Search lists 9 children for the Rehkop’s, but a family tree on Ancestry.com says that they had more children than that. When the 1880 census was taken, we find the Rehkop’s living in Fredericktown with 7 children. Henry was a miner.

During the 1880’s, I found 3 different birth records for children born in Ironton, so Henry must have returned to that town during those years.

Since Henry was a veteran, he is found in the Veterans Schedule of the 1890 census, about the only part of that year’s census that was not destroyed in a fire. It indicates that Henry was back living in Fredericktown.

I failed to find the Rehkop’s in the 1900 census. Then, in the 1910 census, we find Henry and Catharine with an empty nest and living in Flat River, Missouri. Henry, at the age of 72, was working at a lead mine.

It may have been around this time that the Rehkop’s had this family photo taken. Henry and Catharine are sitting in the middle, surrounded by their children and some of their spouses.

Henry Rehkop died in 1919 at the age of 81. His death certificate below says he was born in 1838, and that year was probably used to determine his age. If he was born in 1837, I figure he was 82 years old when he died.

Catharine is found as a widow in the 1920 census. It looks like she was living alone, but right above her entry is that of her son, Albert, and his family. They were living in Flat River.

Catharine Rehkop died in 1925 at the age of 80. Her death certificate shown here says she was more than 80 years old. It does not give her a date of birth, but gives the number of years, months, and days she lived. I figure this gives some proof that she was born in 1844, not 1843.

Henry and Catharine Rehkop are buried together in the Bonne Terre Cemetery in Bonne Terre, Missouri. The gravestone says Catharine was born in 1843.

Sometimes, I have to wonder how there are differences in dates of birth for the character I write about, especially when the couple in the story had so many children like the Rehkop’s. You would think that the family would know the birthday of their parents, including the year of birth, after celebrating those birthdays throughout the years. And they would make sure that the gravestone would get it right. Of course, in this case, maybe it is the gravestone that is correct, and other documents are wrong.